I do not engage in the ‘wishes and wants’ and ‘predictions’ threads on the forums. For one reason, I like to be surprised, and I find it more rewarding when something is announced that wasn’t expected. Secondly, is that many people’s wishes and wants tend to be really obscure things that have a low probability of getting produced, thus resulting in disappointment when official announcements are made.
Killer Whale, 2018 (Wildlife Ocean by Schleich)
5 (11 votes)
The world’s largest and most visually striking dolphin, one of its most intelligent animals, and undisputedly one of its most accomplished predators, the killer whale (Orcinus orca) needs no introduction from me. Whether they’re attacking boats or wearing dead salmon as hats the orca is constantly generating interest and is one of our most beloved and familiar animals.
Pilot Whale (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
4.3 (12 votes)
Pilot whales are members of the Delphinidae family that get their name from the unproven belief that a single member of the pod leads the rest and that they’ll follow that individual even if it means certain death, which is supposed to explain why pilot whales strand en mass. Indeed, pilot whales are among the most likely cetacean species to become stranded.
Fjord Mare (Horse Club by Schleich)
4.4 (7 votes)
Hello again! Here we will have the review for the mare counterpart to the fjord horse pairing. If you would like to read more about the breed itself, I included a history and variety of facts for them in the Schleich’s gelding article here. The figure being discussed below is the mare figure by Schleich produced in 2024, #13980.
Fjord Gelding (Horse Club by Schleich)
5 (6 votes)
Howdy folks! I have another horse review, huge thanks to Happy Hen Toys and their enormous generosity to provide a sample of this pair of horses. A rather rare breed in toy form, these two were welcome to my herd and are quite an improvement over the previous generation.
Silky Shark (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (12 votes)
The silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) is a species of requiem shark found in tropical and subtropical seas around the world. They inhabit the epipelagic zone near continental shelves and deepwater reefs where they feed on bony fishes, cephalopods, and the occasional crustacean. They are known to be active and inquisitive and are considered potentially dangerous to humans but given their preferred habitat, encounters are rare.
Brown Dog Tick (Merial)
4 (4 votes)
Commonly called the brown dog tick or kennel tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the most widely distributed tick species in the world. It’s primary hosts are dogs and other canids, but it can bite humans as well. However, it doesn’t have a strong predilection for humans, and even in households where dogs are infested, their human owners may never get bitten.
Tabby Cat, Orange (Safari Farm Collection by Safari Ltd.)
4.1 (8 votes)
Being December we’re now at the height of the holiday season and so for my next couple of reviews I’ll be featuring seasonally appropriate animals. “But this is a cat”, I hear you say, “what do cats have to do with the Holidays?” Well, if you’re asking that question then you’ve apparently never heard of the Yule cat, my favorite piece of Christmas folklore.
Bottlenose Dolphin (AAA)
4.1 (12 votes)
Majestic, intelligent, enigmatic, beautiful, elegant. These are all apt adjectives that describe the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), one of the most popular, wide ranging, and recognizable cetaceans in the world. Toy Animal Wiki catalogs 71 different figures of the species but there are easily many more than that.
Shortfin Mako Shark, 2017 (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
4.4 (11 votes)
Shark Week may be over but after posting two back-to-back sharks I wanted to keep this ball rolling for at least a couple more reviews. Plus, it’s Shark Week as I write this, so I’m still feeling sharky. Today we’re looking at the 2017 shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) by Safari Ltd.
Goblin Shark (Sealife by CollectA)
4.9 (16 votes)
In 1889 fossils of an unusual Mesozoic shark were described. It was named Scapanorhynchus, Greek for “shovel-snout” due to the elongated blade-like snout that jutted out over its face. Nine years later an unusual 42” (107 cm) immature male shark with similar anatomy was caught in Sagami Bay, Japan and formally described as Mitsukurina owstoni, commonly known as the goblin shark in English and the tenguzami in Japanese.
Common House Spider (Garden Animals by Papo)
5 (2 votes)
Before I start this review, I must again thank our friends at Happy Hen Toys who kindly donated this review sample for the Blog.
When today’s figure was first announced, it was referred to as a ‘common spider’. That left the door open for several ideas on what it might be (especially since the promo pic wasn’t taken at the most diagnostically-helpful angle).
Gulper Eel (Creatures of the Deep Collection by Safari Ltd.)
4.3 (15 votes)
Thanks to its wide, loosely hinged mouth that makes up about a quarter of its total body length, the gulper eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) has become a poster child for the deep sea and the bizarre creatures that live there. No surprise then that Safari Ltd. included it in their Creatures of the Deep collection back in 1998.
Dog Heartworm (GPI Anatomicals)
5 (4 votes)
Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!
All major holidays have various symbols associated with them, such as a Christmas tree for Christmas, a turkey or cornucopia for Thanksgiving, a four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day, or a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. There is no doubt that the heart has become the most popular symbol associated with Valentine’s Day, and what better way to celebrate such as association on the Animal Toy Blog with an animal that lives in the heart (or at the very least, the pulmonary vessels) of its host!
Common Pillbug (Sofubi Toy Box by Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
Walkaround of one of the common pillbug, Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille, 1804) by Kaiyodo, Sofubi Toy Box, No. 012A, originally released in 2017. Armadillidium vulgare is native to the western Palearctic but has been introduced to places around the world, including North America. Kaiyodo previously made this figure (albeit much smaller) in 2015 as part of their Capsule Q Museum Backyard Creatures – Soil Organisms set (see penultimate image).